Arc II Chapter 3

Arc II Chapter 3

II

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Arc II Chapter 3

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In the middle of the room, stood her captured mother. Her empty eyes stared into the horizon without emotion.

Akihiro smiled with a certain sense of satisfaction. Genjutsu. Contrary to popular belief, genjutsu had indeed some use, albeit only from time to time.

The girl dropped her guard. Cheerful, she rushed for her mother, prepared to hug her with her open arms.

“Okaa-san! Okaa-san!” The ignorant girl beamed, but all her hopes were crushed with merciless brutality. The girl froze. Her entire body turned to ice.

A single strike, a single well placed strike from Hagane ended everything. His sword ended her mother's life. Hagane's blade skewered her heart, taking her life. Her mother's plummeted forwards like a lifeless puppet whose strings were cut. Her life had ended.

Her dead mother was lying now in front of a girl, who was unable to comprehend what had transpired.

Akihiro spoke, “Hagane, Ibuki, let's grab her and get out of here. We have already wasted enough time ...”

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Asami clenched her fists. Inside her heart, she felt confusion, pain, sadness, and undiluted hatred. Okaa-san died. They took her, stole her, killed her. Her heart demanded revenge, vengeance, justice.

Her hand reached for her kunai and a set of explosive tags.

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Four consecutive explosions shook the room. The blast forced everyone to take cover, Akihiro included. Years of experience, good instincts, and luck saved him. Akihiro threw himself onto the ground, thus avoiding being blown apart. The kunai and the tag sailed past him.

Yet it didn't end there. Where there was one kunai, there were more kunai. He didn't like what he saw. He didn't like it, absolutely. The initial clould of dust settled and a hailstorm of murderous kunai welcomed greeted him. They were fast.

They kept theirs eyes on her. They had underestimated the girl before. They wouldn't make the same error twice. The only issue was that they had bigger issues to worry about ... Their cover was blown ...

“Hagane, Akihiro, we must retreat immediately”, Ibuki advised. “Our target is far stronger than expected. Extracting her alive will be difficult. Our mission is compromised ...”

“Agree.” Hagane nodded. “Time to retreat ...”

The girl, however, disagreed, her lips distorted with blazing hatred. “Do you really think you can escape my wrath?” And yet she was powerless.

“... ... ... Yes.” Hagane grinned. A smokebomb was their answer as they disappeared into the night, now running for their lives.

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Asami wandered across the battlefield. Eventually, she found what she was searching. She clenched her fists, smashing her arms against the ground in rage, below her was lying Kurano's corpse. Her body remained unscathed, spared by all the fighting. As if Okaa-san was just sleeping. She was even smiling.

Her hand grazed her cheek. It had grown cold, yet it was still so soft and tender. “Okaa-san ...” Tears fell poured down Asami's eyes, tears of indescribable grief. Her limbs grew heavy from exhaustion.

She had given everything, but everything wasn't enough. In the end, she had failed to protect Okaa-san.

Asami's breathing intensified, her panting filled with nothing but hate and a vindictive thirst for vengeance. A dark veil of purple chakra surrounded her, its mistress. The air was laden with anger and hatred. Her chakra sensed her emotions, only waiting for her command to unleash its cataclysmic power. Rage, unending rage, unending all consuming rage devoured her heart and mind.

“AAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!” A cry of desperation, of frustration pierced the air and with it an explosion. Her chakra expanded, and a shock wave burst its way in all directions, turning the entire area into a sea of unrelenting primordial purple fire.

These cowards ... These bastards ... They have done it ... They have truly done it ... They ran ... They escaped ...

But one day, she will serve justice. One day, they will pay the price. One day, they will know despair. They will know the darkest abyss ... ... ...

Asami collapsed, hugging Kurano's dead body in her arms. Even unconscious, she hugged Kurano, she hugged Okaa-san, she hugged the person she loved with all her heart.

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